PADRES: Source said club's TV deal is all but finalized

SAN DIEGO ---- Fox Sports San Diego broadcast its fifth Padres game "in good faith" on Thursday afternoon, but it looks like that won't be necessary much longer.

An industry source said a 20-year deal potentially worth $1 billion to broadcast Padres games "is all but finalized." The Padres are expected to announce their deal with Fox in the next 1-2 days, the source said.

Fox sources, who declined to comment on the deal being finalized, said the provider televised four of the team's exhibition games last month and Thursday's regular season opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers with the expectation the deal would be approved by Major League Baseball.

The Padres have reportedly worked on a deal with Fox since last May only to have it rejected several times by MLB.

Last month, Jeff Moorad withdrew his bid to purchase the club and later stepped down as CEO to expedite a deal with Fox.

Padres majority owner John Moores declined to comment before the team's season opener except to say "life is good and I'll leave it at that." Padres president and interim CEO Tom Garfinkel also declined comment.

As of Thursday, Fox Sports doesn't have an agreement with three of five area cable providers. While the team's games are available through both Cox and DirecTV, fans who subscribe through Time Warner Cable, AT&T Uverse and The Dish network don't have access.

The Padres are in the first year of a new contract after their games were televised by Channel 4 San Diego the previous 15 seasons. Estimates suggest the Padres will receive at least $30 million in the first year of the new deal. Channel 4 paid the Padres $15 million last season.